The growth in part-time employment has been one of the most striking features in industrialized economies over the past forty years. Part-Time Prospects presents for the first time a systematically comparative analysis of the common and divergent patterns in the use of part-time work in Europe, America and the Pacific Rim. It brings together sociologists and economists in this wide-ranging and comprehensive survey. It tackles such areas as gender issues, ethnic questions and the differences between certain national economies including low pay, pensions and labour standards.

1 Conceptualising part-time work: the value of an integrated comparative perspective PART I Who wants part-time work and on what conditions? 2 Where and why is part-time work growing in Europe? 3 When do men work part-time? 4 Why don't minority ethnic women in Britain work part-time? 5 Are part-time jobs better than no jobs? 6 Are benefits a disincentive to work part-time? 7 Part-time work: a threat to labour standards? 8 How does part-time work lead to low pension income? PART II International perspectives 9 Culture or structure as explanations for differences in part-time work in Germany, Finland and the Netherlands? 10 Why is part-time work so low in Portugal and Spain? 11 How does the 'societal effect' shape the use of part-time work in France, the UK and Sweden? 12 What is the nature of part-time work in the United States and Japan? 13 Why is the part-time rate higher in Japan than in South Korea? 14 Will the employment conditions of part-timers in Australia and New Zealand worsen?